Canada studies TV unbundling

The Canadian government has instructed the country’s television regulator to study the impact on consumers of unbundling cable and satellite TV packages.

Heritage minister Shelly Glover has asked the Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to study the issue and report back to the federal government by April 30.

The move comes after the Conservative government pledged last month to push cable and telecom providers to provide more flexibility than was allowed under the current practice of requiring the purchase of TV channels in large packages rather than individually.

“Right now, most cable and satellite TV subscribers must sign up for bundles of channels – many of which they may have no interest in – to get the ones they really want,” Glover said in a speech in Vancouver. “Our government said very clearly that we would require channels to be unbundled, while protecting Canadian jobs.”

The government made its pledge on TV packages last month as part of a broader pro-consumer push aimed at regaining voter support ahead of a federal election in 2015.

Glover highlighted a handful of telecommunications companies — Bell Canada, Rogers and Quebec’s Videotron — that are already moving away from ready-made pay TV subscription plans.

However, the move has been criticised by leading broadcasters including Rogers Communications and Bell Media, which claim consumers will likely pay much more per channel if they are pushed to shrink the content packages they offer.